


Red Eye Special

by Calliope_Lupis



Series: The City is Contagious [4]
Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Aged-Up Turtles, Bakery and Coffee Shop, F/M, Meet-Cute, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Other, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:47:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28247157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calliope_Lupis/pseuds/Calliope_Lupis
Summary: In which the Night Baker expects a spirit and gets a Turtle instead. (Raph likes her cookies tho)
Relationships: Raphael (TMNT) & Original Female Character(s), Raphael (TMNT)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The City is Contagious [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2063859
Comments: 5
Kudos: 24





	Red Eye Special

There was Something in the alley.

Cal was a practicing witch so it wasn’t unexpected, but for as long as she could remember, she’d been a magnet for decidedly unfriendly entities. The last thing she needed was malicious spirits sabotaging her new business.

Phantasmagoria had been her dream for  _ years.  _ A night café so she could bake and make coffee the way she wanted, but also respect her night owl tendencies. Now that she was finally free of diurnal schedules, she was  _ not _ about to let a supernatural entity ruin this for her.

Waving a local night-shift librarian off for her shift, Cal pulled her bright blue curls into a bun, and grabbed the plate of cookies she’d prepared for this. “Hey, Z,” she called to her co-owner. “I’m going to appeal to the Being in the alley.”

Her friend didn’t even look up from her book. “Don’t get eaten.”

Having another witch as a co-owner was  _ such _ a delight.

Cal stepped cautiously out the back door. She didn’t like dealing with new spirits in the dark, but this wasn’t really something that could wait. Knife in one hand and treats in the other, Cal blatantly avoided looking at the obvious shadows. No need to offend it too soon.

"Sir, madam, and/or neuter. You may call me Cal, and I am the new owner of this location. I understand that you have likely inhabited this space for quite some time, and it is my hope that we can coexist here peacefully. I’ve brought cookies as an offering of my sincerity and an example of the business we conduct here.” She glared into the dark. “Please don’t make me Deal with you.”

With that said, Cal turned on her heel and went back inside. It was almost time to take the brownies out.

The Being seemed to appreciate the offering, though. The plate was gone when she came to grab it at closing. And most nights for the next two weeks. Other nights, it was exactly where she’d left it.

It became part of her nightly routine. Brew coffee, bake treats, serve customers, leave snacks for the Being behind the café. They seemed to prefer cookies to the cupcakes or brownies she left a few times. Brownies were picked at and cupcakes were almost never touched, but cookies were always gone. She decided to call them Cupcake to be funny.

There were, of course, strange noises occasionally. It was the middle of the night in Manhattan.

“Think we should call someone about it?” Z asked one night.

“Babe, I am entirely too Black to call the cops in the middle of the night for anything less than an  _ active _ emergency,” Cal deadpanned. “No one’s died and Cupcake seems to have things under control.”

She stepped out to leave her nightly offering of fresh molasses cookies and bumped into someone. Cal looked up at them. And up.

It (he?) had to be around 7 feet tall, and at least twice as broad as she was. He wore a red bandana over his eyes and covering his entire head, almost like a durag. There were scars and bandages across his chest and shoulders and- was that a  _ shell? _

_ ‘Holy shit,’ _ she thought.  _ ‘That’s a giant fucking turtle.’ _

“...Okay. Not ‘Cupcake.’ Whole cake.” Cal blinked at him. “I’m still calling you Cupcake.”

They stared at each other for a few minutes.

“Thanks.”

Cal shook herself from her stupor. “Huh?”

The giant turtle-man rubbed the back of his neck. “For the cookies? The, uh, snickerdoodles were really good.”

“Oh. Right.” Cal blinked. “You’re welcome.” She calmly stepped back and moved to close the door.

“Wait!” the turtle-man-thing called after her. “I just wanted to give your plates back.”

He did, in fact, have a stack of her plates in his hand. “Trade you?” She held out the fresh plate of cookies to him. He took it with his free hand and she grabbed the stack of plates from him.

“Cool.” Cal started retreating again. “Same time tomorrow?”

The turtle shrugged. “I… I guess?”

“Great! Bye, Cupcake.” She shut the door behind her. From the other side, she heard a quiet “m’ name’s Raph.” She put the dishes in the sink, and promptly dropped into a ball on the floor.

_ “What the fuck was that!” _

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, tis I, Calliope_Lupis, who has been infected by CelticxPanda in this cursed year 2020.


End file.
